Wednesday 11 April 2012

First film related blog and a review of Contagion

Well this is it. It's been a while since I've put my opinions down in writing for any one to read. Let me get this clear my spelling is atrocious and I'm not hugely interested in how many people agree or disagree with me..... In all probability most people will be indifferent!
The angry man thing, well my wife has a theory that I get slightly too angry about films and stuff I really can't control.  I guess maybe one of these days, I'll get so angry that the time space continum may fracture allowing me to change all the things that annoy me.  Until that happens, I'll have to air my grievances in blog format or "graffiti with punctuation." Which is from a film that I didn't hugely enjoy, but there will be more of that below(in case you don't know it's Contagion which the picture below sort of gives away.)
The films I'll talk about will not necessarily be new releases (though some will).  As I have a full time job, and my boss insists I attend work if I'm to be payed, I don't quite have the time to watch every new film.  The joys of the 21st century mean, my lovefilm account keeps me up to date with almost every film I could ever want to see.  So I do get round to watching most films eventually!


Contagion

So first film I've seen this week? As mentioned above Contagion, supposedly one of the last films Steven Soderbergh will make. Contagion is about the spread of a deadly airborne disease, and the immediate aftermath on the average Joe, the military, the CDC, bloggers, teenagers in love, adulterous wives, WHO (the medical people not the band all though they would be one of the risk groups for an airborne respiratory disease due to their advancing years), the Chinese, drug companies, monkey mortality in labs and well you get the idea EVERYONE.
Having watched it I won't lie, if this is one of his last films I shan't miss him.  I've never been a massive fan of his work; I quite like Out of Sight and Syriana but the Oceans films are just that little bit too smug for their own good, and don't get me started on Solaris. 'Oh I'm married to gorgeous George but cause I'm a bit of a dippy cow I'm gonna kill myself' which is basically the gist of Solaris.

I personally found Contagion to be a little to cold and distant. It's all presented pretty matter of fact and I don't deny that it all seems very plausible but if I'm honest, I cared more about the lab monkeys than any of the actual characters.  For all it mattered to me, the whole of civilisation could have perished by the end and I wouldn't have cared one jot.  Yes people overreact or don't react enough, yes drug companies are evil and bloggers talk shit (present company excluded my word is the gospel!) but give us someone to root for. Even a doughy Matt Damon couldn't save it and I always root for Matt Damon.  On top of this when it finally ends they tell you what happens on day 1. Why do that? The only saving grace of the film is that this could happen and no one knows how ................. it could be you or him or her but in contagion, most likely from bat shit landing in a pig pen in a foreign country! This sort of stuff would never start in the US!  I preferred the ambiguity of not knowing how it started. That's life, we can't explain everything even if we think we can, but apparently Steve can explain it.  Basically I wouldn't recommend it!

There ends my first blog, I hope anyone who actually reads it enjoys, maybe I'll do a few more

The Angry Man




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